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joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam
The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.
Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.
Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!
Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.
Click here to report a problem with this page.
Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:
- This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
- The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "a diplomat " ("diplomats" who perform deliveries of cash or other valuables to you only exist in 419 scams)
- This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
Fraud email example:
From: "Heathrow Airport Limited" <operationsdept@heathrow.com>
Reply-To: deptmaintance@gmail.com
Date: 02 Mar 2019 11:52:12 +0200
Subject: Re-Confirmation
Heathrow Airport Limited
The Compass Centre
Nelson Road
Hounslow
Middlesex
TW6 2GW
Greetings!
I am Mr. Walter Myers, head of luggage/baggage storage unit
(Operations, Maintenance and Transportation) at Heathrow Airport
in London United Kingdom. I discovered an abandoned shipment from
a Diplomat on his way to your country in your name which is in
our vault now.
The official paper of the parcel indicates your name and your
email address. The x-ray scan report box revealed that the parcel
has an ATM card on it and other financial documents like bank
draft worth certain amount of money.
In view of the foregoing, you are required to get back to us with
a re-confirmation of the below details to enable us know we are
working with the rightful owner of the package and deliver the
parcel accordingly:
Your Full Names:
Current Address for delivery:
You’re Mobile Phone Number for easier communication.
On the receipt of the re-confirmation of the above details, i
will let you know the next line of action. Thanks for your
anticipated cooperation.
Yours respectfully,
Mr. Walter Myers.
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Anti-fraud resources:
